Education Today Education Today Magazine
Haybrook College, an Alternative Provision in Slough, caters for young people who aren’t in mainstream education. Apollo supports students who have self-excluded for a variety of reasons including bullying, poor mental health and extreme anxiety and are unable to cope in a mainstream setting. The partnership between Apollo and Acadeemy21 was forged over 10 years ago. At that time, the then head recognised there was a developing group of young people who weren’t able to access mainstream school prompting the first enrolments of Apollo students.
Academy21 provides online alternative provision to thousands of students in Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 each year. Live classes are delivered by qualified, subject-specialist teachers experienced in working with anxious and withdrawn students. All subjects are supplemented with a library of learning materials, including interactive activities tailored to each students’ learning pathway.
Academy21 can be used to support students studying at home, or, within inclusion or specialist units on-site. Apollo has a dedicated space within the college, set up to support anxious learners in their own quiet, nurturing, space. Apollo students join Academy21 lessons in the morning for GCSE English, Maths and Science, and, in the afternoons, student participate in music, sport, art and vocational classes. It is this combination of academic study and confidence building activities that the head of Apollo feels really helps students to move on, apply for colleges and move into the world of work.
“We have worked with Academy21 for years now, so we are very happy with what they have developed. We can access everything that we need. From the reports we can see how much a young person has engaged, understood, and interacted. We have seen some very positive outcomes for our students. Some have gained excellent results and they’ve moved on to further education and then university. I think Academy21 represents good value for money, it’s good teaching and it produces good results.”
– Julia Holder, Head of Apollo
